Triggered Towards the Darkside
by Nemesis13
Summary: Taylor Hebert never wanted to be a cape, hell she never wanted any sort of attention other then from those she cared about, but that had been stolen from her. Stolen during an eighteen month long bullying campaign that ended in a casual murder attempt that was brushed under the rug. Unfortunately for her tormentors they managed to awaken her true power, Revan. Slight TOR crossover
1. Triggered

**So I recently got into Worm, and fell in love with Taylor Hebert AKA Skitter, and while I haven't finished reading it yet I heard that it doesn't end pleasantly for her. Well, I say fuck that, and since I couldn't sleep I decided that Taylor was going to get a power equally as awesome as being Queen of the Swarm, she was going to inherit the mantle of the most effective Dark Lady of the Star Wars universe (Before MMOs ruined her character, made her canonically male, and a mid level dungeon boss). **

**I'm not putting this in crossovers because only her power qualifies, this is all taking place in the Worm universe so I didn't see any point in mucking around with that.**

**So please enjoy the rise of Brockton's newest super villainess, the Dark Lady Revan.**

* * *

Taylor held her knees to her chest, sobbed, breathed in the oppressing stench of rotting tampons, vomit, and shit, then she threw up what little was left in her stomach on herself yet again before letting out another sob.

"LET ME OUT!" She screamed as she slammed her fist into the side of the locker she _knew_ that cunt Sophia shoved her into, and once again received no response for her efforts.

"WHY!?" She sobbed out not for the first time, wondering what god she had pissed off to curse her to be the personal punching bag of a psychotic bitch that some how never managed to get caught torturing her.

As she sat there Taylor Hebert fell further into herself as she realized a horrifying truth.

"I want to die..."

She had enough, a year and a half, eighteen months of psychological torture and physical abuse had driven her to the point that she wanted it all to end. She had been shoved into this locker yesterday, had been left to rot in filth, carrying a fever from what had to be lethal bloody toxicity, and with her luck STD's courtesy of the rotting tampons burning through her veins, and thus she finally gave up.

As everything faded to grey Taylor found herself startled as a strong voice spoke up, "_Are you a coward?"_

Fuck you, Taylor thought out. She was no coward, she had held strong when no one in authority would do anything to stop Sophia's campaign of torment. She had held it together as her dad fell deeper and deeper into apathy as mom's death slowly killed him, she held it together when Emma betrayed her and joined Sophia's group of sycophants, she'd held it together for years...

She was just...tired of holding it together, tired of waiting for someone with power to actually do their fucking jobs.

She wasn't a coward, she had just acknowledged that those in authority would never help her, so what was the point of holding on?

_"Why not rebel then?"_

Rebel? Fucking seriously? With what? The conditions at Winslow were bad enough for an under funded high school, exactly how was she supposed to 'rebel' against anything when the system itself was so poor they couldn't even power the third floor. The third floor that was unused, and she was the only student in the entire school who had a locker on it, away from all foot traffic and cameras.

"_That's the point isn't it?"_

What's the point?

_"They have done everything in their power to break you, and yes while this is horrific if you curl up and die they'll only laugh, won't they? THAT is the point, they took all of your power from you and the only way to truly begin your retribution is to rebel against that. To grasp the power offered to you, to become the predator, to become the alpha that they all will learn to fear._

Taylor glanced about the empty white space surrounding her, glanced down at her hands, and whispered, "There's so many against me...what...what could I possibly do to stop it?"

The voice that had been whispering to her let out a deep bass rumble as it seethed out, "_**EVEN THE WOLF FALLS VICTIM TO THE TIGER TAYLOR HEBERT."**_

Taylor sobbed as she covered her ears, half expecting to feel blood running from ruptured eardrums as she shook her head. Blinking rapidly she met the gaze of a figure dressed in armor and robes, black and various shades of red making up most of the colour scheme, and all she could feel from the figure was imposing, unyielding power.

I'm no tiger, she thought out sadly, the figure tilted her helmed head to the side, then whispered in reply, the overwhelming power she had spoken with beforehand now gone.

_"Do you want to be? The tiger that is, the predator, the one who bows to none and only answers to themselves?"_

Taylor didn't hesitate as she squared her shoulders and glared at the figure before her directly, "Yes."

_"Then I chose well, Taylor Hebert, now return to your life, and carry on the legacy of Darth Revan."_

The armored figure touched her, then she screamed in agonizing bliss as pure _power_ tore through her body, then, she knew nothing.

* * *

Taylor's eyes snapped open and she let out a gasp as she looked about her surroundings in near uncomprehending shock.

She was on a hospital bed, she was clean, everything smelled of antiseptics and the only noise was coming from the machine at her bed side. Taking in deep breaths she slowly sat up and stared down at her hands in confusion then shook her head slowly, had it all been a dream, a hallucination?

No... No it couldn't be, the power it...she still felt it...

With barely a thought she extended her hand towards the desk focusing on the pen sitting on it, a moment later it shot to her hand and it soon took itself apart above her palm as the various pieces began orbiting about Taylor.

Smirking she put the pen back together and then sent it back to the desk, leaning back into the bed she couldn't help the dark chuckle that escaped her lips as she closed her eyes.

Oh Sophia had absolutely no idea what she was up against now, and the hilarious part was her worst nightmare would never have been a thing if she hadn't triggered her rise to power.

The irony was...delicious.

Slipping back into the realm of Morpheus Taylor couldn't help but think that _Revan_ was a rather good name for a super villain.


	2. Going Under

**This is one of those weird stories where I just keep getting ideas and feel the need to write them, and realize I'm not going to get anything done if I don't let the muse do what it wants. **

***Shrugs***

**Oh and to the very annoying people who keep mentioning that Revan wasn't a woman, I played KOTOR back when it wasn't retconned out of existence to make a campy mid tier boss battle for a failed MMORPG, and I always rolled Revan as a woman so please, stop bringing it up, it is very annoying.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Taylor meditated while sitting cross legged on her hospital bed, extending her senses around her she felt the presence of everyone moving about the massive sprawling medical facility going about their every day tasks. She listened to all their inane little thoughts as they moved about blissfully oblivious to the fact that their every action was being observed by a disinterested teenager in the process of honing her super powers.

"They're like ants, nothing more than insects at all, really..." She mused to herself as she shifted her focus and then paused as a burning blue fire in a sea of mundane grey flared out towards her.

"Dad," she whispered quietly, and a moment later she wiped the tears from her cheeks and took in a deep breath while settling herself. When the door swung open Taylor didn't have to fake her smile as she jumped off her bed while wrapping her arms around the man who entered her room.

* * *

Danny Hebert had been scared, terrified even, that his little girl would not want to see him, that after missing the horror show that her life had become over the past two years she would rightfully blame him for what she had gone through at that fucking school.

So when she jumped off her bed and wrapped her arms around his neck while whispering, "Dad...I missed you so much..." into his ear Danny nearly froze up as he pulled her close while letting out a quiet sob.

They stood there like that for about a minute before they finally broke away from each other, he stared down at his little girl as she adjusted her glasses while he gently pulled a lock of her dark curly hair behind her ear as he shook his head slowly.

"I'm so sorry Taylor, I...I should...I should have been there for you."

She met his gaze evenly, her eyes burning with intensity as she nodded slowly, "Yeah, you should have been dad."

It took all his will power to not reel from that blow but then Taylor smiled at him, "But you're here _now_, and that's what counts, right?"

Danny took in a sharp breath, then pulled Taylor in for another hug, "Here now, and always..."

They stood there for a time when Taylor eventually muttered, "You took the deal didn't you?"

Danny grimaced as he nodded, deciding not to hide the truth from his little girl, "I had no choice, either pretend what they let happen to you didn't happen and cover the medical costs, or-"

"Or you pursued justice, inevitably failed since we're a lower middle class family and don't have that kind of money to throw around, and then we'd very likely lose our home in order to cover the court costs."

Danny froze as Taylor gently broke away from him and kissed his brow, "You're a good man dad. You did what you had to do, and I don't blame you for doing what was practical."

He let out a sob as he pulled Taylor into another hug, completely unaware of his daughter's seething thought's in relation to the girls who had tried to drive her towards suicide for the laughs and little more.

That...was probably for the best, Taylor Hebert had a very creative mind after all.

* * *

She woke up screaming, breath ragged as she ran her hands across her sweaty brow and through her hair, glancing about she listened for her dad but she hadn't managed to wake him this time.

Good.

It had been like this for almost three months now, waking up in terror, reliving her trigger, and causing her dad to panic while he ineffectually tried to calm her down.

It was better this way, him being unaware that is, he had enough going on in his life without having to micromanage her emotional bullshit after all.

Slipping out of bed she pulled on a pair of charcoal grey cargo pants and a black tank top, after fishing out a pair of socks from her dresser she pulled on the old combat boots Emma had bought her back when...

Back when they were still friends...

Truth be told she should have thrown them out but...she was a practical girl no matter what, and they were solid boots.

Pulling on her favorite blue hoody and one of her mom's old denim jackets Taylor grabbed a Red Sox cap off a hat hook and pulled her hair through it before settling it into place. Hands in pockets, one holding a knife, the other a can of mace, she walked out into the misty night trying her best to not think about anything.

She wandered the streets in a minor daze, lost in thought as she tried to process the past couple of weeks, and what it really all boiled down to was that she was perfectly fine with becoming a villain, she just...wanted to be one of those enlightened villains, like, Moriarty, or Jack Sparrow, and the like. She was all for vested self interest she just had no desire to needlessly hurt anyone in the process, and well...

Thinking about Sophia and Emma a moment she had to adjust her thoughts.

Ok, _almost_ anyone, good clarification there.

As she considered this change in her thought process she heard someone talking at the mouth of the alley she was walking along, Taylor slowed her pace and rested against the grimy wall while shooting a look around the corner.

There was a large group of men, all of them were armed, Asian, and looked pissed off which only meant...

"Shit...ABB...how the fuck did I wander all the way out to the Docks? Stupid! Fucking stupid Taylor!" She muttered to herself. Still self admonishing herself she looked around the corner again and saw a massive man she had recognized from pictures posted on the message boards and very nearly pissed herself as she slipped back into the alley.

Lung.

Fucking. Lung.

Lung was snarling, and Taylor barely managed to pick up "…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?"

The fucking Dragon of Kyushu was going to kill kids?

Taylor was hyperventilating at this point but she managed to take in several deep breaths before nodding to herself slowly coming to a decision.

She might be an up and coming villainess, in her own mind at least, but kids...

She stepped out of her alley and allowed the Force to gather around her as she muttered, "I really wish I was a Tinker, a lightsaber would really be handy right about now..."

With that, a dumpster at her left went flying and hit Lung directly in the head as she she shrugged while muttering, "Oh well."


	3. How To Maim Your Dragon

**So a couple people mentioned how I'm staying on the rails for this, and well, I was, I wanted Taylor and Lisa to meet in more or less the same manner as in cannon. That's happened now, and from here on things are gonna be different. Oh and obviously this is another insomnia update, so please enjoy my inability to get a quality nights sleep!**

* * *

Sometimes one finds that they have to ask a simple question to quantify their life's goals and aspirations while acknowledging where said thoughts on said aspirations would go. 'Why am I here,' 'why am marrying this person I do not love,' 'Why am I holding up my families legacy when I care nothing for it?'.

Ya know, those sort of soul crushing questions that you really don't want an answer to but feel a burning need to ask them regardless of the fact you knew better than to do so.

Up till today Taylor Hebert had never suffered under any of that, but, but that was before she was doing her damnedest to not get burned into cinders and eaten alive by a _mother fucking dragon_ whilst yelling to herself in a rather justified panic.

"WHY THE HELL DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!?"

A rather good question, one she should have asked herself _before_ she had thrown a several ton dumpster at the apparently _immortal_ dragon man now glaring at her in incandescent rage.

"I really wish I could blame myself for this but the talking heads on the news never once said, 'Hey watch out for that Lung guy, he's a dragon and only gets more so when you piss him off!' I mean really, 'Grows in strength as a fight escalates,' doesn't really convey the severity of the situation here people! 'Becomes a literal FUCKING dragon,' that would have been something good to know before now. Seriously thought all those pics were photoshopped and his PR guys just built it up from there..."

Pulling her head away from the overpass column she was hiding behind Taylor couldn't help sassing a bit as she leaned out and yelled at the partially transformed parahuman, "A stupid lizard says 'what' as an SUV hits it in the back of the head from behind!?"

The seething demi-god marching towards her position paused and muttered out, "**What?**" just as a Kia slammed into him from behind and exploded in a shower of sparks and smoke.

"About right," Taylor muttered under her breath as she side stepped a bit of smoking debris landing beside her.

This entire fight had left her on the back foot from the beginning, she had hoped to more or less head shot Lung at the start with her dumpster cheap shot, it hadn't worked. Apparently he really _was_ the memetic OP badass that the message boards gushed over and then some, proving without a doubt that it was _not_ PR work that proved his legend, and she had now pissed him off to epic proportions.

On that note while getting hit on the back of the head with a dumpster had annoyed him, apparently getting hit in the back of the head with a car infuriated him, as Lung demonstrated by showing off his pyrokinesis on the surrounding area giving Taylor a flash sunburn in the process.

Awesome.

She ran, all while muttering the sacred mantra of "FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fu-"

"_**I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU! I WILL CONSUME YOUR FLESH! BURN YOUR BONES! FAMILY A THOUSAND GENERATIONS SEPARATED WILL FEEL YOUR AGONY FOR ETERNITY!"**_

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

Then she came to a dead stop as she realized a rusted out train engine was in her way, she turned around at the currently seven meter long dragon that was now beginning to sprout wings from its back jumped into the intersection she had just come from, flames spraying from its jagged maw as it took a halting step forward.

Taylor took a glance at the train behind her, another glance at Lung, then grinned.

The villain known as Tattletale would readily admit nothing tonight had gone as it should have, Bitch was being...well a bitch, Grue had nearly had a panic attack when he found out Lung was personally hunting them down for their heist on one of his casinos and Regent was acting like his typical sociopathic self.

All that being said, they had been hunted down and cornered, then someone had attacked the hunting party.

Even with her power she couldn't really keep track of what was going on, it was too chaotic, moving far too quickly, and despite how invested they all were in the whole not dying to the ABB thing, info was spotty at best.

So when she turned the corner and saw a stick thin figure raising one arm and dropping it as a mangled train engine slammed into a crippled, groaning dragon while their other hand was shooting out bolts of violet lightning, well...Tattletale would readily admit a bit of surprise.

Stopping next to the figure she eyed them a few moments observing the fact that it was a _she_, she was crying, and she was muttering, "Just stay down," over and over again as lightning strike after lighting strike slammed into Lung's body.

All while still pummeling him with the mangled train, of course..

Extending a hand Tattletale gripped the girls shoulder, breaking her focus as the train fell to the ground and the lightning faded away, Tattletale then smiled gently as she muttered, "I think he's had enough."

The girl was wild eyed, but responsive enough to reply with, "I should run...right? Running from dragons... That's a good idea...right?"

It was a freaking _marvelous _idea actually, Tattletale took her hand and pulled her along, "Couldn't agree more, now come on you can explain it all to me back home."

The girl, obviously in shock just nodded in return, "Ok..."

Ignored by almost all Lung groaned underneath the weight of the train engine that was very nearly wrapped around him as sirens grew louder in the distance, Tattletale quickly guided the mystery girl along with her while Regent turned towards the near comatose dragon for a moment.

He stared at the most over powered, violent, territorial, out and out murderous villain in the entire bay with a level of intensity that would unsettle most, then poked him with his scepter setting off the taser within.

The dragon snarled at the shock, and Regent snickered to himself as he turned away, "Well, that's off the bucket list." Twirling his scepter and letting it fly up into the air he caught it nimbly as he chased after his teammates.


	4. Guy Talk

**So woke up way early, had this scene in mind most of the work day, and so I decided hey what the hell, why not post it as is? Taylor will be back to normal'ish next chapter, she's still just processing everything that just happened and the utterly perplexing fact she somehow managed to survive a conflict with a dragon.**

**Oh, and if it isn't obvious, Lisa is smitten while Brian and Alec find the entire situation highly entertaining. Actually Grue and Regent's interaction was the highlight of this chapter for me personally, they're fun to write.**

**Also to those that called that Taylor's control over her emotions will make things not squicky when it comes to romance for Lisa and why she would pursue said relationship? Good call.**

* * *

Getting the girl with the ability to lift a train with nothing more than a thought, then decided to use said train to beat a perpetually escalating nigh immortal dragon into the ground _while_ electrocuting him, away from the scene of the crime was easier than Tattletale thought it would be. As it turned out shock turned regularly rational people into something far more pliable, and rather then focusing on self interest for once Tattletale used that sense of shock to get the mystery girl the hell out of Dodge.

"Why wouldn't he just stay down, I don't understand...I can't even..." the girl muttered to herself.

"Shshshsh just follow me and we'll get you home safely."

It was at that point Regent caught up with them and he seemed far too smug for his own good, Grue seemed to sense this as well and a moment later he spoke up in an exasperated tone.

"What did you do _this_ time?"

Regent just shrugged, twirled his scepter, and while his face was covered by his mask it was obvious he was grinning, "I poked the dragon."

It was Bitch of all people who let out a sigh quickly followed with, "Ok fine, fuck it, whatever you tempted fate and managed to walk away, get on the dogs and lets get the fuck out of here before someone from the Protectorate or the Wards shows up."

"They're already on the way, so good plan," Tattletale muttered as she helped the still near catatonic girl up on Brutus' back. Said mystery girl gave the mutated dog a once over glance then just shrugged as she settled herself in for the ride.

"_Great_," Regent drawled out, "As if Lung hadn't been enough for one night."

New girl sat up straight and glanced about in panic as she screeched out, "That fucking dragon is _still_ after me!?"

Shooting Regent a glare that he pointedly ignored Tattletale ran a hand down the girl's thigh while calmly muttering, "No no love, we're running away now, like you suggested before."

The girl nodded jerkily at that while muttering to herself, "Running away from immortal dragons is good... No more immortal dragons... far too many..."

"Shit," Regent muttered to Grue, "I think she's seriously triggered man."

Grue turned and met his teammate's gaze evenly as he drawled out, "Dude, she just fought _Lung _and managed to walk away without a scratch."

They stared at each other for a few moments before Regent shrugged and glanced away, "Yeah ok...by the by I _may_ have fulfilled a life goal and hit said dragon with my taser before I caught up with you guys, just saying."

Grue froze a moment before yelling out, "Wait, WHAT?! GODDAMNIT ALEC!"

Regent just grinned as he shrugged while drawling out, "No regrets."

Tattletale shook her head slowly as she let out an exasperated sigh, "Bitch, get us the hell out of here, please."

With that, Bitch whistled and her trio of mutated hounds of hell took off carrying their passengers away from the closely approaching long arm of the law.

It took damn near an hour but they managed to slip past the Protectorate cordon, and soon found themselves back at their base of operations. The new girl was unfortunately still muttering to herself as Lisa led her inside the warehouse and up the stairs to the loft that housed their home, clearly still coming to terms with her near brush with fiery dragon induced death.

Leading New Girl to sit on the couch Tattletale placed a pillow in her lap that the girl immediately latched onto while muttering something about orbital defense platform based turbolasers and glassing protocols...whatever those were. Shaking her head Tattletale headed towards the communal kitchenette and was soon making up a mug of hot chocolate for their guest when both Brian and Alec stepped up behind her.

"Lisa..."

She let out a very tired sigh before she turned around to meet Grue and Regent's unimpressed visages.

"Yes?"

"Explain," Brian stated flatly.

"Explain what?" She shot back tersely as she went back to preparing the hot chocolate.

"You're being oddly accommodating to the _smiter of dragons_," Alec stated lightly, "In fact you're acting incredibly out of character to the point where I'm wondering if some son of a bitch with a power like mine has gotten their hands on you..."

Tattletale froze up at that as Grue walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Lisa...talk to me..."

It took her a few moments to reply, moments she used to finish preparing the hot chocolate, then she turned and met her friend's gaze evenly, "I can't read her Brian."

Alec blinked rapidly at that as Brian cocked his head to the side,"What?"

Lisa couldn't help it, she smiled brightly as she replied, "She's the first person I've met since I Triggered, that I know absolutely nothing about and no matter how hard I try I get nothing from her. She is a complete and utter cipher to me."

With that she walked past her team mates leaving the pair in silence. Eventually Alec snorted, snatched his scepter up from the corner he had tossed it in, and walked away while stating, "3k says they bang within the month."

Brian didn't reply immediately, but before his teammate walked out of the room he shot out, "Two months, 5k."

"Bets on," Alec stated as he slammed the door behind him as Brian shook his head ruefully.


	5. A Hellhound's Perspective

**Rachel always seemed one dimensional to me, so I just decided to expand on her a tad bit even if she comes off as slightly out of character. Said character being ridiculously black and white and I just cannot write that kind of character convincingly, personal fault.**

**Oh, and to those...being less then polite about pointing out what Taylor was going through in the three month time skip and it existing to begin with, it is going to be explained in detail when she opens up to Lisa next chapter when she is kinda forced into a date of sorts following their encounter with Lung.**

**It's the journey that makes the adventure, not the destination, and quite frankly I'm rather insulted at the insinuation that I was being lazy in my writing and how this entire yarn weaves together.**

* * *

Cocking her head to the side Bitch stared at the new girl as she hugged her Tattletale supplied pillow close to her chest while perched upon her own personal favorite couch as the girl did her level best to ignore the world around her. Said new girl went on muttering about mass accelerator cannons, glassing protocols, coordinated overlapping turbolaser orbital bombardment, 'immortal fucking dragons', and 'nuke it out from orbit, that's the ticket, only way to be sure'.

After a few minutes of scowling at the new girl Bitch felt herself slip into a state of mind she tried her best to avoid at all costs.

She got introspective.

She fucking _hated_ being introspective.

Introspection meant you had to acknowledge emotion, which meant you had to try and understand how other people thought which was just...

Ugh...fuck emotions... There was a reason she got along with dogs better than humans even before she was Triggered.

Dogs were easy to understand and relate to, there was a defined pecking order, the alpha led, the beta delegated, obedience was rewarded with loyalty, everyone knew their part and in turn the pack did whatever the hell they were told to do.

The new girl though...she broke the mold because even Bitch could tell while she was powerful, she was broken.

She was a lonely Alpha; she had no pack, she had no one to rely on, and she didn't seem to understand her own power which even to someone as emotionally stunted as Bitch, was kind of terrifying considering how she had worked over Lung.

So that's how she ended up finding herself surrounded by her dogs facing off against the new girl, speaking up to question her much to her own surprise, "Why a train?"

Really, why a fucking train?

The new girl snapped her head up to meet her gaze evenly, rapidly blinked a few moments, then replied with a hint of confusion, "What?"

Bitch shrugged as she fell on the couch behind her and let her head fall back on the rest, "Why did you hit Lung with a train of all things?"

New girl blinked at her a moment then shrugged as she let out a tired sigh while loosening her grip on the pillow her arms were still wrapped around.

"It was there, I had already hit him with a dumpster, a Kia, and lightning formed from the metaphysical manifestation of my hatred and fear of existence itself. It hadn't stopped him. I was scared, and I didn't want to die. I was running for my life, then I found a train engine, so I did my best to beat him to death with it."

Bitch stared at her a moment, then nodded, "Fair enough." She could respect a combat pragmatist, even if only a little.

That's when Lisa reentered the room still dressed as Tattletale with a cup of hot cocoa in hand. She sat next to the new girl and quickly placed the steaming mug in the girl's hands. Lisa was whispering to the girl and soon placed a hand on her knee which had Bitch's eyebrows raise ever so slightly as she blinked in surprise.

Glancing up she met Alec's gaze as he leaned against the kitchens door frame, and even though he was still dressed as Regent she could tell he was amused. He placed a finger over his mask where his mouth would be then quickly walked along the perimeter of the room and plopped down on the couch. A few moments later the TV turned on and the Xbox booted up.

Rolling her eyes Bitch stood and whistled for her dogs to follow her outside, they needed the exercise, always did after shaking off a transformation, poor things. Deciding that her doggies deserved some fresh cutlets tomorrow Bitch headed for the door while mentally tossing about which local butcher would ask fewer questions when she emailed out an order for thirty pounds of raw beef and why she needed it as soon as possible.

Fuck did she hate dealing with humans, dogs would have understood immediately, to _eat_ it of course, why over complicate things?

Whatever.

Ignoring Alec, Lisa, and the new girl Bitch was about to head outside when she noticed Brian leaning against the wall observing everyone, she snarled a bit as he reached out and touched her shoulder, but he ignored that as he met her gaze evenly.

"Heading out Rachel?"

"Obviously."

"Well...be safe."

Bitch glanced down at her dogs, and back at Brian, then snorted in annoyance as she shook off his hand while he kicked off the wall walking away from her with a shake of his head.

"Right..."

Bitch opened the door, glanced back at Lisa and the new girl, then asked, "Odds?"

Pausing mid step Brian turned back to her and replied with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Regent is one month and 3k, I'm two months and 5k."

Bitch scoffed at that as she turned back towards the door, "Newbies an introvert, Tat has no idea what she's doing or how to deal with her. No sooner then three months, 8k."

Brian rolled his eyes and muttered, "Pessimists," as Bitch led her dogs out to the landing and slammed the door behind her, but she couldn't help the corners of her lips turning up slightly, amused despite herself.

She may be taciturn, cruel, and too focus minded on her pack for her own good, but even she could get behind hazing their groups resident know it all for personal amusement.

It was the little things in life that got you through it after all.


	6. Making Questionable Friends

**I know I promised an explanation on Taylor's powers this chapter but it ended up that, well, I lied because I have other shit going on. Regardless, enjoy!**

* * *

Taylor realized she had more or less been stuck in a feedback loop when the butch girl who had previously been wearing a cheap plastic dog mask spoke to her asking why exactly she had hit Lung with a train. Her response had seemed to satisfy her and they sat in silence for a few moments before the girl she had recognized as the one who tried to calm her earlier reappeared and sat next to Taylor smiling slightly.

"Here, this'll help calm your nerves," she said as she pulled the pillow from Taylor's arms and handed her a cup of hot cocoa. Pulling the mug up to her nose she took in a deep breath of the wafting steam before sipping it and oddly enough, it did calm her down a bit.

Not because of the drink itself, but the memories attached to it, cold winter days spent wrapped in blankets as mom brought hot drinks to herself and Emma as they watched cartoons, dad pulling her into the garage and pouring a bit of his thermos' steaming coffee in an old chipped cup as he fiddled with some motor while failing to explain how it worked much to her amusement. Curling up with a cup of tea to read a book when the rain was pounding at the windows while she listened to Evanescence on her radio ...heh... simpler times...

Even the memory of Emma didn't derail the pleasant thoughts, despite how much she despised the girl and wished her nothing but eternal suffering now... at one time she had d-

The girl sitting beside her broke her train of thought as she placed her hand on Taylor's knee and whispered, "Hey you ok?"

Taylor took another sip from the scalding drink before nodding slightly, "I think? I mean... Look what happened tonight I hadn't actually planned on happening, my mental shields slipped in my sleep, I relived my Trigger, and well...I needed to walk it off."

The boy on the couch then chirped out, "And ended up in a fight with Lung."

Taylor winced and nodded at that, "Yeah... Thought I could cheap shot him with a dumpster to the head when I overheard him talking about killing some kids but obviously that didn't work out."

"Obviously," the boy drawled while poking his head up from the other side of the couch, "I'm Regent by the way, that's Tattletale, and the dude who just walked back into the kitchen is Grue. Girl that just left is Bitch but PHO insists on calling her Hellhound to stay PG which she just finds annoying but whatever."

Taylor then realized that she was the only unmasked person on premise and swallowed her next sip of cocoa tightly before biting the bullet and replying with the name she had derived from her long deceased benefactor.

"I am Revenant, but my civilian name is...Taylor."

It was a gamble that they would follow the Capes unwritten rule, but a gamble well made as Tattletale smiled and pulled her mask off as she said, "I'm Lisa and it's a pleasure to meet you Taylor!"

Taylor really hoped she wasn't blushing when she realized how pretty the blonde girl still gripping her knee was, the freckles across her nose were especially cute.

Thankfully she was distracted by the boy who pulled his mask off as he turned away from his video game, "Alec, pleasure to meet you Taylor."

He was...pretty, that is the only way she could describe him.

That's when Grue walked back into the room mask-less and Taylor had to look up rather more than normal to meet his face as he tilted his own steaming mug towards her in a friendly gesture.

He had mocha colored skin, kind eyes, and a brilliant white smile, "Brian, and also a pleasure."

She knew her cheeks were burning at this point, aside from the butch girl who was handsome in her own way everyone on this team was beautiful.

Feelings of inadequacy were now up to 9000...

There was silence for a time as Brian took a seat, and eventually Lisa spoke up, "So we kind of owe you one you know?"

Taylor blinked at that, "How so?"

Brian coughed into his fist then sighed as he explained, "Well as it turns out-"

Alec then spoke up over him with obvious humor in his voice, "-That we were the kids Lung intended to kill tonight because we robbed one of his casinos, which he would have managed to do if not for you because he's _fucking Lung_. Though, that didn't seem to slow you down all that much Revenant, or Taylor... or hey is it cool if I call you Taven when we're just chilling out?"

Taylor blinked a few times, shook a few moments which caused looks of obvious concern from Brian and Lisa, then she broke out laughing.

Alec just grinned at her as he nodded and turned back to his video game, "I'll take that as a yes, you play Halo?"

Taylor finished her drink, placed it on the table, wiped a tear from her eye and replied with, "Yes I play Halo, and if you take my sniper rifle I will pistol whip you like a pimp who didn't get paid."

There was a moment of silence, then Alec chirped out, "She is sassy as fuck, holy shit I like her, can we keep her?"

As amusing as Taylor found this situation she shakily took to her feet and let out a tired sigh, "I need to head home, my dad will...probably freak out and call the police if I'm not there when he wakes up."

She hadn't even taken a step forward before Lisa jumped up and grabbed her hand, "We'll drive you home, won't we Brian?"

Brian paused, exchanged an amused glance with Alec, then nodded, "Yeah, we can do that."

The drive back to her house was quiet, Taylor was trying to process the fact that she had taken on _Lung_ and walked away victorious, and that she had managed to make friends who seemingly respected her.

It was all rather heady really, so when Brian pulled the car up before her house as the sun began to rise Taylor sedately stepped out onto the asphalt and took a deep breath of the chilled morning air.

Sighing she turned towards Lisa and offered her a tired smile, "Well, guess this is it then?"

"Guess so," Lisa said as she shifted her foot about slightly before continuing on, "I don't suppose I could have your number so we can keep in touch, make sure none of those ABB idiots tracked you down?"

Taylor grimaced at that, "My dad...doesn't do cell phones, mom died because...she crashed when she was on the phone with me and well..."

Lisa did not let that stop her though, "Ok how about we meet at the boardwalk at noon in front of Starchilds to iron out everything that happened tonight on at least a few hours of sleep?"

Taylor gave her a deadpan look before drawling out, "I cannot afford a fifteen dollar cup of coffee."

Lisa grinned in return, "You don't have to, treats on me!"

Taylor deliberated that a few moments, go to school surrounded by people she despised and had to literally restrain herself from murdering on a near minute to minute basis, or blow that off and go have coffee with the cute girl who knew her secret identity.

Was there even any question at this point?

"Okay... Yeah that's fine, I wanted to discuss the ins and outs of being a super villain regardless."

Lisa practically glowed as she pulled Taylor into a hug, "It's a date then! See you at noon!"

With that Lisa hopped back into the car, waved as Brian shot her a jaunty salute, and they pulled away from her home as Taylor walked towards the front door and paused midstep.

She lifted her arm, sniffed it, then blanched as she resumed her march forward, "Gonna have to burn these clothes...smells like someone tried to charbroil fish and forgot about it after adding the garlic..."

Miles away, despite the shear amount of broken bones, devastated nerve endings, and borderline illegal sedatives that his healing factor was currently dealing with, the super villain known as Lung snarled in annoyance.


	7. First Date

**First, holy hell has work been a...I don't have words, it's been a chore. Temporal Knight helped me get through the chapter intro, and I'm going to go try and get some sleep while hoping I have something later on this week to present...**

**Pipedream, very tired.**

**Eh, whatever. Enjoy.**

* * *

Lisa lurked in wait as she did her best to not observe anything, and as always her willpower to remain complacent failed her as she found out exactly how many drinks the coaster in front of her had held, how many times it had been reused to cut costs, and most distressingly the shear amount of semen that had been left on it.

"Fucking hell," she muttered as she pushed the offending object away, cradling her drink protectively while meeting the gaze of a blonde woman in passing.

_**White supremacist. Ignores the fact that her dad is Hispanic. Looks Caucasian enough to pull it off. Supports the E88 on a regular basis and has espoused her beliefs on ethnic purity on multiple occasions.**_

"Bitch," Tattletale muttered as she glanced at an Asian kid and her powers once again kicked in.

**_Scared. Hates being part of a gang. Terrified for his little sisters. Knows that if he doesn't deliver the heroin in his bag the boss will put little Mei on the street. Mei loves art. Painting and charcoal penciling are her passions. Her favorite colour is blue. Her comfort stuffed animal is a rag doll made by her mother last year, before she was killed in a random gang shooting. She loves cats, and is scared of dogs. If the heroin doesn't get delivered she'll be forced into prostitution in retribution._**

**_Mei is nine years old._**

Lisa took the back seat as Tattletale stood up and walked up to the frantic eyed boy and pulled his head down so her mouth was practically touching his ear, "Go out the south exit and turn right and keep going till you dead end, take the door to your left you'll find a stairwell to East 55th, and then you're golden. If Mei ever ends up working the streets, I'll be coming for you."

With that Tattletale left the shocked young man behind her as she resumed her position at her table and sipped her over priced coffee like nothing had happened.

It of course had to be a Tuesday.

Lisa fucking _hated_ Tuesdays.

Glancing about the crowd she took casual stock of the cattle that ran through the overpriced coffee house doors.

_**Cheating on his wife.**_

_**Cheating on her husband, with his...sister... and his aunt...well that was interesting at least.**_

_**Embezzling from his friends to cover his gambling habit.**_

_**In the closet about his homosexuality while pushing forth anti-gay propaganda.**_

_**Likes drugging little boys below the age of ten and...**_

Lisa noted the mans appearance while discretely taking a photo and quickly tapped out a text that was going to be sent to the BBPD anonymously in a few hours.

_**Skived on his taxes. **_

_**Lied about the amount of butter she needed for her roasted pecans. **_

_**Stretched the truth on how much his brand new truck cost him. I-**_

Lisa froze as she focused in on the eye of the storm, the calm silence, the one person who didn't drown her in information she'd rather not know, and she soon found herself relaxing as she let out a pleased sigh.

Peace...that's what she felt as she observed the dark eyed girl that waved at her awkwardly.

Taylor walked up to Lisa and smiled warmly as she pulled a black lock of hair behind her ear while adjusting her glasses slightly, "Heyya, ummm...I'm here? Hi?"

Could she possibly be more adorkable?

"Hey!" She replied while smiling sheepishly, undoubtedly making things more uncomfortable considering neither of them knew how to react to the other.

Lisa surprised herself a bit by being somewhat excited about the ambiguity of it all, she had no idea what was going to happen, and that was just...

Amazing.

"Err...is it ok if I take a seat Lisa?"

Right!

"Ahem, yes perfectly acceptable Taylor."

Nodding the ravenette sat down and then began fidgeting almost immediately.

"I...should order something right?"

What? Oh!

"Yeah! Umm, lets order you a drink."

An awkward five minutes later they sat silently while Lisa gently pushed the coaster between them onto the floor, doing her damnedest not to focus on it in the process. Eventually Taylor sighed but Lisa decided to speak up first.

"So why super villain right off the bat? I mean you seem like a really sweet girl and for you to just dive into becoming the bad guy is kind of confusing.

FUCK! Way to put the cute nerd on the defensive Lisa!

Taylor for her part just sighed, took a sip of her coffee, then shrugged.

"Escape, really. I'm sure your trigger was horrible-"

-You have no idea-

"-yet mine was...noteworthy I think... Basically every authority figure in my life failed me so...hilariously that a psychotic jock bitch tortured me mentally and physically for nearly two years before deciding to murder me in the most horrific manner she could think of... just for the laughs..."

What.

Seeming to grasp Lisa's expression Taylor shrugged, "Haven't eaten anything have you?" Lisa shook her head, Taylor nodded, "Prepare to be grossed out."

Ten minutes later Lisa was wondering if Regent and Bitch weren't up for a bit of freelance work and resolved to never be anywhere near a locker ever again.

"So yeah, anyway, being a villain is pretty much my only recourse at this point. I don't trust the authorities, Rogues last, what? Six months at best? So really my choices are limited to begin with, so I decided I have to go more mercenary than I am actually comfortable with. I want to survive though...soooo...here I am!"

"Here you are..." Lisa fumed a few moments then decided that the risk was worth the gain, "I read people, things, places, I focus on something long enough, a person blusters along enough, hell if I am just allowed to _observe_ long enough, I learn everything about everything."

Lisa smiled, "Though I don't know anything about you other than what you told me."

Taylor blinked and tilted her head to the side, which made her look like a confused kitten and Lisa had to resist the urge to giggle as she replied with, "You...can read everything...but me?"

"Yup!" Lisa stated cheerfully.

"Huh..." Taylor said, then shrugged as she shot Lisa a wan smile, "Well... allow me to blow away your world view. My power? I inherited the Conqueror Empress of the Galaxy's skill set and I've seriously had to put some limiters on it in the past few weeks to prevent myself going...insane..."

Lisa was silent for a moments, then muttered out, "What?"

* * *

** Not bad for being written in an hour, hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Back Story and Showing Off

**So someone who decided to hide behind anonymity gave me shit about everyone but Tattletale and Regent being out of character and that truly baffled me. Rachel didn't have much character to build on and I simple expanded on what was there, while Danny and Brian have had very little screen time, all while Taylor had her consciousness melded with a century old space witch thus explaining why she is behaving a bit differently.**

**What is so confusing about this? Really?**

**Anyway, I had it pointed out that not everyone knows what led up to Darth Revan turning to the Dark Side much less what led her to become Revan to begin with, so Taylor is going to explain it to her future girlfriend so I don't have to do an info dump.**

**I hate info dumps, I usually just skip reading them and figure it out on my own, I'm stubborn like that.**

**Anywho, enjoy!**

* * *

What was the description for someone being completely and utterly blindsided by a bit of information that completely altered their world view again?

Pole...something...

Ah, poleaxed.

Taylor felt that Lisa looked poleaxed as she blinked slowly and muttered out a rather succinct, "What?"

In for a penny and all that.

"I'm...not sure what is actually involved when someone receives a power after getting triggered but...I think I'm different from others, at least going by what I read on PHO. I think whatever power I was supposed to receive was hijacked by a restless spirit, and she either overwrote or, more terrifyingly integrated her powers and memories into it..."

Lisa was still silent, and this of course made Taylor uncomfortable so she did what she always did in these sort of situations, she babbled. After giving a very brief explanation on the Force, the Sith, Jedi, and their unending conflict she continued on in a despondent tone while doing her best not to meet Lisa's gaze.

"Basically, in her home galaxy one Aleine Starwind was conscripted into the Jedi order at the age of five, which by the by was a bit too old for their standards because the kids managed to form attachments at that point. Aleine didn't remember much, but she did remember that her parents loved her and did not want her taken and were then mind fucked by the Jedi to agree to it."

Lisa let out loud breath while muttering, "Shiiiit."

Taylor snorted at that, "Yeah about right. The thing is while the Jedi were ecstatic to get such a powerful Force sensitive they were not that excited about the fact that as she got older Aleine insisted on thinking for herself. Nearly the entire order followed their baseline belief that being a serene little emotionless automaton was the epitome of what a Jedi was supposed to be. That was not what Aleine was though."

Lisa was actually a bit enamored at this point, "What was she?"

"She was passion incarnate, not lust or any of that tripe rather she _cared _about everyone she was supposed to protect," Taylor stated while jabbing the table with her forefinger for emphasis. "Aleine felt that you could not serve the people of the Republic without caring for them, without feeling their pains and struggles, without _loving_ them. The Council cited her multiple times for losing control of her emotions and she only stirred the pot by spitting back that she was citing them for not having souls."

Lisa snickered while shaking her head, "Yeah, ok I'm sure that flew."

Taylor grinned at that, "Oh like a battle cruiser in low orbit with malfunctioning repulsorlifts...err...right, like a brick. Anyway she eventually formed a cadre of like minded Padawans by shear cult of personality alone, err, Padawans are learners beneath a Knight or Master by the by. Anywho, despite their misgivings Aleine was made a Knight along with her best friends Alek and Meetra, not a week later war was declared upon the Republic by the united Mandalorian clans."

"This sounds like it should be made into a movie..." Lisa muttered, Taylor giggled and nodded in agreement.

"I know right? Anyway I'm going to make a very long story short, the Mandalorians had been poking at the outer rim for years and had silently conquered it, when they invaded the midrim the Republic was caught on the back foot and they begged the Jedi for help."

"That's when Aleine went to war?" Lisa guessed.

"Nooope," Taylor replied while popping the 'p'. "The Jedi Council needed to meditate on the issue because they felt this entire invasion was a bit hinky, so they refused to help the Republic they had sworn to uphold until they figured out the aggressors prerogative for such an action."

Lisa blinked, tilted her head to the side, and once again muttered, "What!?"

Taylor snorted and nodded, "I know right? Aleine wouldn't have any of that though, millions were dying by the day, countless worlds had been glassed, and the midrim was being flooded with refugees. She felt it was time for action, so she effectively told the Council to fuck off, gathered her fellow Knights and joined the war effort. They didn't do much at first but the media lapped up what they managed to pull off, calling them the Jedi Crusaders. As they were given command positions by the Republic and won battle after battle they took up the name Revanchists as they slowly reclaimed lost systems, then...then they found Cathar..."

Lisa gave her a wan smile while shaking her head slowly, "No idea what that is hon."

Taylor scoffed while returning the smile, "We are discussing something that happened a long long time ago in a galaxy far away, I'd be concerned if you had any idea what I was talking about. Anyway Cathar was a founding planet of the Republic but it was on the outer edges of the midrim, and no one had heard anything from them in months."

Taylor pulled her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose lightly while shaking her head, "Aleine and her friends went to investigate, and..." She met Lisa's gaze looking a bit haunted as she continued on, "They found the aftermath of genocide. The entire planet had been wiped clean of life, and after landing on the surface Aleine was drawn to a seashore..."

Taylor let out a tired sigh as she met Lisa's gaze evenly, "That's when Aleine's path to the Dark Side was set in stone... She, and her fellow Jedi had a vision, they relived the last desperate survivors being herded towards the sea, and saw Cassus Fett order their executions..."

Lisa stared at her in silent horror as Taylor continued, "Then one Mando'ade stood forward, she insisted that this wasn't necessary, the Cathar had been defeated, that nothing was gained by slaughtering them all. Fett said she was weak, and condemned her to die with those she was trying to protect...and she did..."

Taylor sighed and shook her head slowly as she stared down at her hands, "Aleine threw up, Alek, he rubbed her back, Meetra handed her a canteen that she downed a bit too quickly, and then she stumbled out into the sea. Feeling about, she eventually found what she was looking for, the nameless Mando'ade's helmet. She cleaned it out in the waves, placed it on her head, and declared that until all threats to the Republic were defeated, she would be known as Revan."

Turning towards Lisa she smiled mirthlessly, "That was when she became the galaxies most successful Lady of War..."

"There's more to it then that isn't there?" The blonde muttered in reply.

"So much more...but not for today...Wanna go for a walk?"

Lisa nodded absently as they both left the coffee shop, ditching their cups in the trash can outside while turning to meander down the boardwalk.

Eventually Lisa spoke up as they weaved through the clusters of people perusing the various booths and shop fronts, "So basically either you're completely insane, which honestly you do not come off as a crazy person, or you had an ancient space witch force her powers on you and you're kinda just making due with it as best as you can?"

The ravenette sighed at that while meeting Lisa's eyes looking rather timid in the process, "More or less."

Lisa snorted out, "Well that sucks," earning a bark of laughter from her companion.

"You have no idea."

They remained in companionable silence for a time when Lisa eventually asked, "You said you had to put limiters on your powers, why?"

At that Taylor winced, turned towards the sea, and propped her elbows on the guard rail before taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Ok... You don't have the full story yet but try to imagine this; you're a fifteen year old girl, with typical teenage problems on top of which you have to deal with a psycho bitch literally trying to murder you for no reason. Suddenly, you have a century old, as you put it 'space witch's' powers, memories, and more extreme personality quirks shoves into your psyche without any chance to adapt.

"So, imagine having all of that century old galaxy conquering badass bitch's arrogance in the back of your head making you think you can handle the power, that you can control the roiling turmoil of pure energy beneath your finger tips. Then, when you go back to school, and see the cunt that tried to murder you for the laughs you just lose it, you're literal moments away from tearing her and her sycophants into screaming, still _living_ giblets. Then, a single thought cuts through the dark, 'What would mom think of you now?'"

Lisa didn't reply for a time, eventually though she wrapped an arm around Taylor's shoulders and pulled her close, "So you cut yourself off?"

Taylor nodded, "I've been treating these powers like an onion, pealing layer after layer off slowly as I assimilated the memories and nuances. I had telekinesis down easily, actually that took no effort whatsoever which was weird but hey not complaining, after that I developed the more cerebral centric abilities. Mostly just so I could mind trick Sophia and the rest of the bitches to leave me the fuck alone, although the combat precognition really did come in handy dealing with Lung."

"And the lightning?"

Taylor blushed at that, "Umm...I just thought it was really cool and wanted to be able to zap anyone who got in my way."

Lisa let out a giggle snort at that while chuckling out, "Good god you're adorable."

Taylor faux pouted a moment but then let out a laugh herself, "Hey speaking of doing something just because it's cool, wanna see something that'll have everyone shitting their pants and they'll have no idea who was responsible for it?"

Lisa was, if nothing else, a Gadfly, and so chirped out, "Sure!"

Taylor kept staring out at the ocean, confusing Lisa a bit before she noticed the waves about two miles out parting, and then slowly but surely a form began to rise from the depths. Everyone along the boardwalk froze as they watched a massive rusted ship bob up to the surface, and began to move towards the shore at a sedate pace.

Eventually the wrecked freighter reached the shore, and once grounding itself came to a dead halt, the only motion seen after that being the tens of thousands of gallons of sea water gurgling out of the holes in its hull.

Taylor then turned towards Lisa's wide eyed visage and grinned, "Lung's really lucky we weren't anywhere near the docks."

* * *

**Casual badass is still badass, in my opinion at least.**


	9. How Not To Handle a Psychopath

**Woke up way early, wrote this, may need editing, but regardless enjoy!**

* * *

People were freaking out, Taylor was watching on in amusement, and Lisa was just staring at her crush with something between, shock, awe, and well, fear.

Fear _for_ her, not of her mind.

"You...you do realize you've just put the PRT on red alert don't you?" The blonde asked as her smirking companion hummed while twirling a lock of hair between her fingers.

"Oh for sure, and it's about to get better, take your phone out and started recording the ship if you wouldn't mind."

Blinking Lisa tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Why?"

The fact that she had to ask rather then just _knowing _ was just...exhilarating really.

"Because everyone else is and we should make a point of not sticking out."

Huh, common sense there.

"Now the next part is going to take some finesse so please hold out your phone and just stand there looking pretty for now." Taylor then blushed brightly while muttering, "Not that you need to put any effort into that really..."

Lisa smirked and preened a bit as she pulled out her civy phone rather than her burner and began recording the wreck as Taylor leaned against the rail watching the newly resurrected wreck begin to pull away from the shore, then lift into the fucking air.

"Holy shit," Lisa muttered as the massive freighter flew over the boardwalk, thankfully not over them since it was still leaking seawater, then it made a sharp ninety degree turn and headed back out to the bay. When it was roughly around where it had risen from the depths the ship turned bow first towards the depths and gently plunged back into the ocean, disappearing from sight in moments as the waves consumed its wake.

Everyone stood there in awe for a time, and eventually Lisa stopped recording the spectacle and turned to her rather sheepish looking date who adjusted her glasses awkwardly under her scrutiny.

"Umm... Too much?"

Lisa decided discretion was the better part of valor in this instance and grabbed Taylor's hand and began pulling her away from the gathered crowd earning her a yelp in reply.

Weaving through the crowd she eventually stopped before an electronics store and nodded as she decided very quickly to change the subject and to pretend that had not just happened, "We're getting you a phone, both a personal and a burner, any preferences?"

Taylor blinked at that in honest confusion, "I...I can't afford a phone Lisa. Are you mad at me for the...thing and just trying to deflect it? I mean I can-"

Lisa turned around, then kissed Taylor causing the ravenette eyes to widen in shock as the blonde backed off for a moment just to wrap her arms around her a second later so she could lean in and whisper into her ear.

"Taylor, shut up. I am enamored with you at the moment and I'm going to spoil you like you're a queen for the next few hours with the money I lifted off the Casino Heist and you're just going to have to deal with it. We are also going to forget about the ship, understood?"

Taylor, beet red and sputtering just barely managed to squeak out, "Understood," as Lisa grinned at her brightly.

"Excellent! Now come along dear!"

So in the ensuing chaos of the PRT showing up in force in the rather reasonable fear that the events Taylor had set in motion to impress her date were in fact the prelude to an Endbringer attack, the young pair of super villains shopped.

Both of them found this hilarious in a rather mundane way, thus did not comment on it.

At the end of the day, Lisa had bought Taylor a smart phone, a cheap prepaid burner, a rather stylish leather jacket with red highlights, and a balaclava that was discretely pushed to the bottom of the shopping bag.

Walking away from the boardwalk that was still being swarmed with official types Taylor couldn't help asking her companion a simple question.

"Why?"

Lisa was not stupid, and she knew Taylor was also not the mentally deficient sort, thus in turn answered truthfully.

"We've known each other less then a day but I can already honestly say I'm into you. On top of that my team, we're the Undersiders by the way if it hadn't been mentioned before, needs a heavy hitter as backup if our escape attempt fails. So I'm in this really awkward, very weird position of having absolutely no idea how to both let my personal attention be known while also trying to recruit you for my clandestine villainous team of miscreants."

"So in turn you bought me a bunch of stuff and flirted with me most of the afternoon trying to figure out a sales pitch that didn't undermine your own personal desires."

Lisa blinked, then nodded, "Yeah."

Taylor smirked while fiddling around with her new smart phone, then after a moment tapped Lisa's shoulder earning the older teens attention. Blinking she met Taylor's gaze as the ravenette waved her new phone before her, "Number?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Taylor was, well, happy.

It was weird being happy again, the last time she felt happy was when she realized she had super powers most would kill for, and the time before that was before her mom had died.

Lisa had, in a very short amount of time, become a sort of guiding light for her, something to focus on, and was herself so enamored by the fact that she couldn't read Taylor that she in turn was completely honest with the younger teen. She admitted to being terrified of scaring away the only person that gave her the solace of silence, which, on one hand made Taylor feel objectified, and on the other hand, desirable.

Holy shit, fucking hormones, and now her damn cheeks were burning again, ugh.

With these thoughts in mind Taylor was ignoring her classmates as she made her way through the dingy halls of her highschool, and quickly made it to homeroom. She ignored everyone, she was texting Lisa and paid barely cursory attention to what the teacher was droning on about, not caring in the slightest about the drivel he was spouting.

**Lisa: Honestly you should just get your GED and be done with it.**

**Me: If I could I would, but some people don't have the gifts their friends have.**

**Lisa: Oh is that all I am?**

**Me: We've known each other two days, give it at least a week before we go any further.**

**Lisa: *Pouts* But we're teenagers aren't we supposed to make rash impulsive decisions that further our hormone driven desires?**

**Me: Ship**

**Lisa: Well yes I do ship us, in fact so does Alec, and Brian...and Rachel oddly enough.**

**Me: You are well aware of the fact that isn't what I was talking about, and seriously? Were we that obvious?**

**Lisa: Apparently there is a betting pool, and yes ok I know that wasn't what you were talking about. The fuzz is still freaking out about that by the by.**

**Me: It hasn't even been 24 hours, not even remotely surprised.**

"Miss Hebert, are you paying attention?" the teacher, was it Gladly? She'd honestly quit paying attention some time ago, asked with an indignant tone.

"Not even remotely, carry on," she stated while pushing through his hilariously weak will which had him abruptly pause as the mind trick washed over him.

Blinking rapidly, he turned away from her glassy eyed as he continued on with his lesson.

**Me: GED is looking more and more like the best option regardless, I really can't stand this fucking place anymore.**

**Lisa: Could you stand it to begin with? I mean they tried to murder you there for fucks sake.**

**Me: Point, bells ringing, going to lunch, talk to you after I down my industrial grade processed soy burger with imitation ketchup and synthetic lettuce.**

**Lisa: Christ that just sounds disgusting without even seeing it, I'm packing you lunches from here on out, have fun!**

**Me: Holding you to that, talk to you later!**

Sighing Taylor shoved her phone in her pocket and shouldered her bag as she made her way to the cafeteria all while thinking she had forgotten something important, but a few moments later shrugged it off not really caring one way or another.

Buying said discussed synthetic sin against the culinary arts Taylor sat at a random table and quickly opened her carton of grape juice and began munching on her rather unmunchable burger while reading the notes she had made on creating a deuterium fueled cold fusion power cell.

This was a rather...vexing situation for her, she knew exactly _how_ to create a D Cell battery sized nuclear battery, she just didn't have any method to develop it, and if she wanted a lightsaber that was exactly what she had to figure out.

Nominally she could just mind fuck some nuclear plant engineer to get it for her but on that note, mind fucking someone meant to regulate a nuclear reactor sounded like...a really bad idea.

Goddamnit did she ever need some method to develop a proper infrastructure for the tech burned into her mind, just the _idea_ of having HK-47 at her side was enough to cause her to scoff in amusement.

"Well well, what do we have here?"

Hell that kind of power supply would be a first step towards making the turbolaser defense platform she had fantasied about using on Lung, maybe it would even be useful against the Endbringers.

"Hey, bitch! Are you ignoring me!?"

She needed resources, and, wow, holy shit. Maybe she _was_ a Tinker but just hadn't realized because there was no options for her to develop her tech without a-

-her food tray went flying while a seething visage made itself apparent as her hair was used as a tiller to turn her head to view her assailant.

How...

Irritating.

"Shoo fly, don't bother me," Taylor stated as she slapped Sophia Hess's hands from her hair, all while observing that grape juice was now soaking into her notebook while she let out a vexed sigh. Moving faster than expected she closed the ruined notebook, shouldered her bag, and turned away from the girl and her posse without a word.

Not worth it.

"Hey where the fuck do you think you're going!?"

Ok what the shit? The psychopath had been silent since her murder attempt and...

Oh...

For...

God. Fucking. DAMNIT!

Taylor had been so distracted by having an actual friend in her life again after nearly two years and had forgotten to mind trick the psycho bitch to behave like a real person.

This...was not going to end well.

"Away, from you."

Taylor did her best to retain a sense of civility as she continued walking away when Sophia grabbed her shoulder and spun her around, whatever she was expecting to be there, was not as Taylor grabbed her by the throat and threw her backwards causing her to fall on her ass. She didn't notice it but the entire cafeteria went silent as she prowled forward and stared down at the bitch who had tried to murder her for the laughs, nor did she notice her eyes beginning to take on a yellow hue.

"You want to know something Sophia? I figured you out some time ago, and I find myself unimpressed."

Sophia scrambled to her feet and took a defensive stance while gritting her teeth as she responded with, "Oh, and what's that?!"

"You are _weak_," Taylor stated simply causing Sophia to stagger a bit before her opponent continued. "You're a rabid animal, you have this insane thought process that everyone is broken down into predators and prey. However you subverted my best friends ethics you got her thinking the same thing, and then Emma aimed you at me. You tried to break my spirit, you and your little sycophants kept trying to break me down and what infuriated you beyond words was, that I would _not_ break."

Relaxing her combat stance Taylor cocked her head to the side and grinned slightly, "You stole my homework, destroyed my projects, threw me down flights of stairs, and I kept coming back to school despite the bruises and indignity which only had you increase your efforts to break me as the staff covered for you. Why?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE WEAK!" Sophia swung a fist at Taylor but she just side stepped the jab and continued speaking.

"Nooope," Taylor drawled out while popping the 'p', "It was because I countermanded your childish view of the world. You're a rabid animal Hess, you view the world as predators and prey, and since you consider yourself to be _The _apex predator having little old me coming back after each beating infuriated you beyond words. So you tried harder, and harder, and harder to make my life a living hell."

Taylor entered a sense of zen as she avoided Sophia's frantic strikes, not caring in the slightest that her movements were near supernatural and after a solid minute of this she grabbed the screaming girls fists and forced them down as she leaned forward and sneered at her with nothing short of contempt reflecting in her visage.

"I am a constant reminder that you are weak, that I am strong, and that just pissed you off to the point that you where willing to commit murder to prove to yourself that I was an anomaly. It didn't work did it? You proved nothing in the end did you? You aren't a predator, you are prey, and it terrifies you beyond words as you refuse to let the truth sink in."

Whatever victory Taylor may have earned vanished as Sophia screamed in rage as she turned into smokey shadows for a moment and then stabbed a pair of knives into her chest.

Taylor gasped, eyes wide, then tilted her head to the side while muttering, "You're a cape?!"

Sophia's triumphant visage shifted to horror a moment before one of the senior students smashed her in the head with a fire extinguisher.


	10. Is Everything All Reich?

**Another sleepless night, do enjoy, wrote this in...I think 45 minutes? Yeah, definitely less than an hour, regardless, enjoy!**

* * *

So there is a point in a girl's life where she has to acknowledge that she had completely and utterly fucked up in the planning department and had to just accept the fact that, well, shit was about to get stupid.

Really. Sophia Hess, Track star, hottie sporty girl, able to torture a fellow student with impunity for two years without anyone noticing.

That didn't make sense, that sounded like the premise to a fucking after school special on how to avoid bullies for fucks sake.

But, being a Cape, that, that...well things make more sense with that.

That's what the Force told Taylor as the raging teen she held before her shifted into shadows and a moment later became solid again.

Taylor inwardly scoffed as Sophia jerked her wrists in a weird fashion that had a pair of inch long blades eject from her sleaves and suddenly found herself in a bit of a dilemma.

Side step the psychotic bitch and let her fall flat on her face, or allow her to stab her in a none vital area and get her thrown into prison?

As the blades slide through her ribs, Taylor muttered, "You're a Cape!?"

Decision made.

Then a fire extinguisher slammed into the now revealed Ward's head sending her to the ground in a heap.

Taylor couldn't help it, she laughed.

If this had been in the Harry Potter universe, _that_, that right there would be Patronus fuel.

Staggering Taylor fell to the floor while her 'savior' dropped the extinguisher and rushed to her side, "Shit, oh fuck you've been stabbed!"

No. Fucking. Shit.

"I've had worse, should have seen the first time she tried to murder me, way nastier and much more methodical. This was almost...insulting"

The senior who had brained Sophia bit her lower lip and then quickly pulled a shirt from her bag and soon tore it into strips to use as bandages. Unhygienic, sure, but much better then bleeding out, thanks.

"What's your name," she asked, and Taylor figured it was an attempt to keep her focused on not passing out so didn't mind replying in a kind tone.

"Taylor Hebert, has 911 been called?"

"Yeah," the older girl replied with a sigh, "As if that will do a lot of good in this neighborhood. Name's Penelope Metzger by the by."

"Penny Butcher, heh..." Taylor scoffed out, but rather then offending Penelope it only made her smile as she replied.

"Know a bit of German then eh?"

Taylor, now truly in the throes of shock as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth giggled in reply, "I'm French and Italian by descent honey, knowing how to speak German is only to my benefit in the long term."

"Clever girl," she muttered as Taylor stopped giggling and took in a sharp breath.

"Shit, oh fuck that hurts. Also, an aside, loved that Aleph movie."

"What's to hate about it, dinosaurs are cool," Penelope muttered as she heard approaching sirens and continued on,. "So, tell me more about yourself, got a boyfriend, go to church, anything truly interesting?"

Taylor scoffed, then held her ribs in pain before replying, "Trying to keep me coherent eh? Nothing interesting in my life really, certainly have no boyfriend at least. I go to school, try my best to not get noticed, haven't attended church since mom died because I couldn't really stand the hypocrisy, and I do my best to avoid that psychotic bitch."

With a chin motion she indicated Sophia which had Penelope nodding slowly, "Right..."

As the ambulance arrived, and Taylor along with the very comatose Sophia were carted away, Penelope quickly typed out a message on her phone.

**Me: I know I am over stepping my bounds but I have to make it known that I may have a new parahuman recruit. Precog who has glowing yellow eyes when active, very combat effective. Just tricked Shadow Stalker into unmasking herself.**

Penelope stared down at Hebert's stained notebook on the ground and a moment later picked it up, after quickly leafing through it for a few minutes she couldn't help her growing grin.

**Me: Also likely a Tinker. Suggestion, do NOT treat her poorly, she's a white Christian girl, all she needs is to be shown the proper way, being overtly threatening won't help recruitment.**

There was silence for a time then her phone vibrated, Penelope nearly shit herself when she saw the sender.

**Krieg: That is your personal observation?**

Fingers fumbling she quickly tapped out her reply, now terrified beyond words.

**Me: Yes, she is grace under fire, she did not react with violence until Shadow Stalker instigated it, even then she tried to deescalate the matter up to the point where she was stabbed. That was when I intervened.**

Shaking violently Penelope ran her hand down her face slowly, then received a new text.

**Krieg: Send me any video footage of the confrontation you have.**

She had it all, she had every single member of the E88 send her what they had recorded, and hell she even had the security footage taken just as the night bitch herself confronted Taylor instigating the fight to begin with.

Taking in a deep breath, Penelope let it out, then nodded.

**Me: On its way boss.**

* * *

**Fucking. Nazis.**


	11. Did Nazi That Coming

**Had a few minutes to write, so I did, enjoy!**

* * *

PRT Director Emily Piggot stared at the monitor before her for an extended period of time after viewing the edited video that the E88 had just posted, clearly ignoring her subordinates in the process while rubbing the bridge of her nose in consternation.

Finally she spoke up after an airy sigh.

It was not due to a lack of material to discuss, or a sense of hubris that kept her quiet up till this point, no, it was actually all due to having this minor thing known as 'common sense' screaming at her in pitches that would shatter glass that she was completely and utterly fucked.

With that feeling noted, she opined not for the first time that she, was, undoubtedly, not paid enough for this sort of bullshit.

"So, let me get this straight. Shadow Stalker, our poster child for Ward disobedience, in a fit of rage, after being unable to coax her personal punching bag into fighting back against her long term bullying campaign, attacked said girl who not moments before accused her of attempted murder. Then proceeded to have her ass verbally handed to her by said girl who had done everything in her power to deescalate the matter away from violence, then she _stabbed_ said girl moments after unmasking herself and got it all caught on tape!?"

Armsmaster sighed, then nodded slowly, "That is the crux of the situation ma'am."

She didn't bother with him after that, Emily needed the more human touch for this, thus, she turned her gaze towards Miss Militia.

Meeting the director's dark gaze and her raised brow Hannah couldn't help but dart her eyes to the side while muttering, "Ma'am Shadow Stalker is now in a secured containment unit while she awaits treatment for her concussion."

Director Piggot stared at her a few moments before drawling out, "Annnnnd?"

Hannah sighed, then nodded, "And Miss Hebert has also been isolated in a hospital suite but has no pending charges pressed against her due to that fact that, putting it bluntly, she was the victim in this entire fiasco. Miss Hess's family has been moved into protective custody, Miss Hebert's father as been informed about the assault, and the E88 is having a field day exposing the insane PRT supported black Ward attacking the studious white girl minding her own damn business at seemingly random, complete with the well edited video file you just watched."

Emily was silent for a few moments, glanced towards Armsmaster a heartbeat, then slumped her shoulders, "Shit..."

Hannah could only shrug as she muttered through her star spangled scarf, "Yeah...about where I am at the moment ma'am."

Through the tense silence Colin wondered what Dragon would think about this entire situation when Miss Militia finally spoke up, "Do you think the Hebert girl is a parahuman?"

Armsmaster did not hesitate as he stepped forward and nodded, "A combat precog at the very least, and if what I was able to gleam from her ruined notebook, likely a Tinker as well."

Emily nodded slowly at that , then her lips formed a facsimile of a smile as she replied, "Shadow Stalker has effectively imprisoned herself for the foreseeable future. Gaining a new Tinker out of the situation, well..."

* * *

Taylor's head was fucking killing her nearly as much as the wounds in her chest were, to top it off the drugs they'd given her were if nothing else distracting more than anything.

She could handle pain without having her senses addled, hello, survived being eaten alive and poisoned by plague infested bugs in a locker.

Shit.

But.

But, it didn't make it all hurt any less though.

That fucking bitch...

No, seriously, Taylor hated Sophia more than ever after she unmasked herself because, surprise, her many, _many_ enemies would now target her parents and siblings, and...

Damnit... Maybe she wasn't meant to be a villain, because...fuck as much as she hated Sophia her family was innocent of her crimes and...and...

"Hello? May I come in?"

Taylor wiped away her tears and took in a deep breath before calling out, "Yes, sorry, just, dealing with things."

The man who entered the room wore a well tailored suit, a charcoal grey over coat, and a heavy red scarf. He had close cropped blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and bore a rather large grin as he extended his hand towards her.

"Oh, it is no trouble at all little one, I actually must apologize for imposing myself upon you in such a manner after you suffered such a great trauma. Yet, the nature of the beast is that those who strike first strike truest, and after reviewing your grades before you were forced to attend that farce of a school known as Winslow? Well, let us just say that those of us at Medhall would very gladly make your acquaintance after a brief proficiency test."

Taylor's eyes widened perceptibly at the man before her as he grinned wider at her reaction while she squeaked out, "Medhall!?" as she took his hand and shook it frantically.

"Yes," he replied with his ongoing smile, "oh, and my name is James Fliescher, a pleasure to meet you miss...?"

Taylor quickly gathered herself and couldn't help grinning in return, "Hebert, Taylor Hebert. But you knew that already, right? I mean you'd have to wouldn't you?"

James laughed and nodded lightly as he shook her hand, "Yes I did know this but an introduction is an introduction. Now, you seem like a driven young lady, and I happened to catch a glance at that notebook of yours in the video posted online, is there any invention lurking behind those dark eyes begging to be made into reality?"

Taylor was practically vibrating in glee as she gushed out, "How does Medhall feel about clean nuclear fusion?!"

James grinned widely at that, "Why do you ask little one?"

Taylor grabbed his hand and pulled him down to meet his gaze evenly while rasping out, "Get me deuterium and I'll give D cell battery sized nuclear batteries by the end of the week."

James grinned in reply

* * *

"So how did the interview go?" Max asked as he flicked his fingers over his liquor collection.

James laughed, "Oh you have no idea how amazing it went. The girl is a definite Tinker, what level of Thinker I'm not sure, and she's practically vibrating with glee over being given a proper workshop to fiddle about with. Her first project? Clean, compact, nuclear fusion _batteries._ After that she wants to work on plastic based armor that she calls 'Plasteel, because, get this, it _is_ plastic, but it's more durable than steel. Then there is the combat robots she wants to make and holy shit, seriously Max, we get her under our Aegis, we're fucking set."

Max decided on vodka, and poured a pair of glasses as he responded, "She a believer?"

James snorted as he snatched up his glass and downed it, slapping it back on the counter he shot Max a grin while shaking his head quickly, "Fuck no she's way too smart to fall for any of that. Play it straight with her, give her what she wants, and don't feed her the party line, and I think we've got her sold."

Max snorted at that, downed his drink, then shrugged, "Well, if you seem so certain, go ahead."

* * *

**Taylor: Ok so don't freak out, I got stabbed today by my psycho bitch bully, who, I can't believe this, outed herself as a cape, Shadow Stalker none the less.**

**Lisa: GIRL WHAT THE LITERAL FUCK WHY DO YOU NOT ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE!? I know about that shhit because I watched it on fucking youtube! Are you ok!? NOO SERIOULSY, YOu, OK?!**

**Taylor: Relax, I'm sorry, yes I am ok, and youtube, seriously? Also didn't answer my phone because I was in the hospital, they don't approve of them being on because of...reasons?**

**Lisa: ...I'm wrapping you in bubble wrap and shoving you in the closet to keep you safe for the rest of your life.**

**Taylor: No, you are **_not._** Huh, I didn't realize I could italicize things in text messages, neat. **

**Lisa: I beg to differ, I very much think I could get you undressed and properly wrapped up.**

**Taylor: Ok when was undressing added to this scenario? Not complaining but would most certainly like to be kept in the loop. Also, no to being shoved into a closet, I've got a new job! Well, internship really, but it's a foot in the door!**

**Lisa: No shit!? Go you babe! Where at?**

**Taylor: Medhall, I start next Monday.**

**Taylor: Lisa?**

**Taylor: Babe?**

**Taylor: Seriously kinda getting freaked out here.**

**Lisa: ...Fuck...**


	12. So Dad I'm a Cape, and Have a Girlfriend

**I am very aware of how short this was, I wrote it in 45 minutes because it was all the time I had. I'm currently working 60 hours a week minimum being the only worker running a two man job. I am exhausted, overworked, and just basically done with dealing with humanity, this is the only outlet I have at the moment so please just try to enjoy what is there.**

**Peace.**

* * *

Taylor's freshly dressed wounds were sore, but thankfully after her dad had picked her up from the hospital she could finally stop suppressing her body's natural urge to call upon the Force to heal them so there wasn't any actual pain anymore at least.

Though she would admit a bit of annoyance at how incredibly itchy the stitches felt, and weren't those going to be a freaking joy to remove later that night. Whatever, a bit of discomfort was more then worth it to see to it that Sophia was shoved in a deep dark hole to never be seen again, at _that_ thought she had to feign a yawn to cover the slightly sadistic grin that curled across her lips.

Danny glanced over from the driver's seat while shifting lanes, concern obvious in his expression which immediately sent a trill of shame down Taylor's spine as she finished her fake yawn behind her raised hand, "You holding up there kiddo?"

Why couldn't he just...stop caring while she was plotting? The guilt of her keeping such dire secrets from her dad was just...it was a familiar companion, but that didn't mean she had to be comfortable with it.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine, just tired is all. What were we talking about again?"

Danny stared at her a moment before switching his gaze to the road before him, "Your new internship at Medhall... while an amazing chance, it does seem a bit out of left field and rushed."

How to play this, what had Lisa said about a convincing lie? Give a kernel of truth and wrap it in bullshit? Oh...damnit, Lisa... Booting up her phone and trying to ignore her dad's slightly widening eyes as he saw the back light turn on, she eventually sighed and decided to come at least partially clean.

"You remember the ...the locker?" His hands tensed around the steering wheel and he nodded in a quick jerky motion, "I... dad... I had my Trigger moment in that metal coffin. I'm a parahuman now, Thinker, Tinker, and... Master." She felt that she needed to quickly state the next bit before her dad panicked, "Though I've mostly only used my Master abilities to screw with the Bitch Trios heads to forget I exist, and to just generally make people leave me alone." Complete truth there, god she hoped he didn't think she was running around turning people into her personal slaves...ugh

"Anyway, Medhall somehow found out about my Tinker notes and...well they kinda swooped in and made me an offer I would never refuse. Funding, a transfer to Arcadia, and an internship at a nationally respected pharmaceutical company's R&D department."

Sending her text to Lisa she lowered her phone as she glanced at her dad as he grit his teeth, the silence growing uncomfortable until she got a hastily typed reply from her girlfriend.

Responding in kind she shifted about slightly and eventually Danny let out a tired sigh while shaking his head slowly, "So...I just..."

Taylor let out a sigh as she responded to Lisa again then gave her dad all her focus, "Dad Tinkers rarely make it as independents, I got lucky in the regard that I have no desire to show off, and when outed I was snatched up by a legitimately well respected institution. Ya know, instead of people like the Merchants."

Danny shook his head slowly at that before pausing, and once again proving that he was in fact not an idiot gained a contemplative look before glancing over to his daughter, "If you had the ability to make those girls forget you exist, why were you attacked today?"

Taylor froze, deer in the headlights of an oncoming train froze, then let out an incredibly awkward laugh as she responded, "Yeah, heh, umm...yeah... My mind tricks aren't long term, I'm no Heartbreaker. So I have to sort of reapply them on a daily basis and today I sort of...forgot to do that today..."

Danny was silent a few moments before dryly stating, "You forgot."

"Yeeeeeah..."

"And how did you forget to make your bullies go away pray tell?"

Turning her head to face out her doors window she muttered, "I was super happy and distracted..." Speaking of which, Lisa still hadn't replied to her, which was weird. Typing out 'Babe?' and hitting send she waited for her dad to respond.

"And why were you super happy enough to forget about the psycho who would publicly out herself as a Ward in an attempt to kill you?"

Taylor grimaced a moment then eventually steeled herself as she gritted out, "Because I was busy texting my bombshell blonde girlfriend and was thus distracted."

Silence.

Why hadn't Lisa replied yet?

Glancing down at her phone Taylor quickly typed out 'Seriously kind of getting freaked out here,' and hit send.

Please...please be ok, and please please don't abandon me like...just...

"So..." Danny began, "Gay or bi?"

Taylor blinked at that, tried to process the blase attitude, then turned to stare at her dad, "Err...bi, actually."

Danny snorted at that, "Like mother like daughter, so what's her name, and when do I get to meet her?"

Wait...what?

Her phone beeped, and Taylor's brows rose as she read the rather succinct 'Fuck' which was soon followed by another message that she was quick to relay.

"Uhhh... Actually she wants to meet up with me, us, in the next half hour at Fugly Bob's... Apparently I just signed up with the E88 when I accepted the position at Medhall..."

It said a lot about Danny Hebert's resolve that he did not bash his head into the steering wheel as he let out a long, drawn out sigh.


	13. Dad Lisa, Lisa Dad, Cool? Cool

_**Written in less than an hour, I have to get ready for work, again, so hey, please enjoy. On the plus side I found out last night that overtime is going away within the next two weeks so huzzah, forty hour maximum work weeks. Am I going to miss the massive pay cheques? Hell yes, am I going to completely ignore that as I embrace having actual fucking sleep? Hell. Yes. Anyhow, enjoy my sleep deprived ramblings, peace.**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**_

When Taylor and and Danny entered the restaurant they were both assailed by the scents of grease, onions, and body odor.

Danny's first response had Taylor letting out a light laugh, "Ah, we're obviously near the docks."

Wrapping her arm around his she walked forward and approached a young woman with dirty blond hair, bottle green eyes, and freckles across her nose, all attached to a fairly impressive body clad in skinny jeans and a tight white sweater.

Danny turned his head just enough to stealthily mutter, "That your girl?"

Taylor smirked while quietly chirping out, "Yup."

"Nice, good job kiddo."

"Right?!" Taylor whispered as they approached the blonde in question who upon noticing them jumped into Taylor's arms without hesitation and kissed her without question.

Taylor, for her part just pulled Lisa closer to herself and deepened the kiss to 'Not Appropriate for Public Displays of Affection' levels until she heard her dad let out a cough. Releasing her ...heh...girlfriend...she had a hot girlfriend...fuck you Emma... Anyway, she let her girlfriend go and they soon sat at the booth her very bemused dad had claimed for them.

There was a tense silence for a moment then Taylor sighed while shaking her head, "Dad already knows we're a thing if that kiss hadn't cued him in already, and I'm fairly certain he doesn't care really...right?"

Danny raised a brow at that while shrugging, "Is there a chance at having grandchildren?" Taylor blushed while shooting Lisa a look, and gained a smirk in response before shifting her gaze back at Danny.

"Dad! Seriously I'm fifteen for crying out loud! Like the last thing on my mind!"

He laughed at that then shrugged once again, "That right there was the right response. So, I'm Taylor's dad, just call me Danny, and I know Taylor has powers, what about you?"

Lisa stared at him for a time,then shrugged, "Lisa, pleasure to meet you Danny, and yes I have powers. I know everything, about everybody, and anything, except for Taylor...she... I don't... I can't read her. At all. That's what drew me to her at first but...she is just so...so..."

"Taylor," Danny offered out kindly, and Lisa could only sigh in exasperation in reply.

"Yeah..."

They sat there remaining silent for a time before Taylor spoke up, "Sitting right here, you know? Listening to you talking about me and all... Just saying..."

Lisa snorted at that as she tapped her fingers across the tabletop a few times then eventually replied with, "Medhall, Tay how serious are you about it?"

"Completely," she responded immediately, "Not only is it a way out of Winslow it opens paths to Universities and think tanks across the nation after graduation, on top of that I get access to funding that I would otherwise never have alongside with having a trusted distributor for my inventions. Until you sent your text earlier this evening it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to me."

"The greatest?" Lisa asked with a faux pout, Taylor rolled her eyes and kissed her earning a grin in return before responding.

"Second greatest, the point still stands regardless, so it isn't all lollipops and unicorns though, it's a Nazi front?"

Lisa sighed while shaking her head slowly, "It's _the_ Nazi front unfortunately. I really hadn't seen it until I put together everything you went through on top of the job offer, but when I did... Well... It kind of became glaringly obvious..."

Keeping quiet a moment Taylor eventually opened her mouth to respond when their waiter showed up, all three ordered milkshakes and kept their tone down until they were delivered, _then_ she finally spoke her mind.

"I... think I'm ok with working for Nazis as long as I get what I want out of the deal..."

Both her dad and girlfriend paused at this as they quickly spoke one after the other.

"You do realize your grandmother was Jewish right?"

"We're kinda gay for each other, they're probably gonna notice that."

Taylor sipped her milkshake, then quickly shook her head, "I've got...this feeling that while they use the bigotry to keep the rank and file morons in line, that the guys in charge really don't believe in it. If I deliver what they're asking for, and manage to do it quickly and efficiently, I honestly don't think my sexual orientation or heritage would really mean anything."

They remained silent for a time, then Danny asked, "Isn't that hypocritical to the extreme though?"

At that, Taylor let out a laugh, "Dad, seriously, they're Nazis, the ends justify the means, plus...well, it's kind of adorable that they think they're an all powerful Empire, and I wouldn't mind taking a few steps to take a position of power. You know...foot in the door, maybe, possibly, could potentially accidentally take it all over from within, you know how politics works."

Silence, then Lisa spoke up, "Are we seriously considering purposely placing yourself in the sights of the E88 solely so you can potentially take over the financial side of their legitimate businesses and in turn putting yourself in place to eventually take control of the infrastructure of their illicit criminal activities?"

Taylor smirked in return, "Yas queen."

"Fuck it I'm in," Lisa stated while glancing towards Danny, "You?"

Danny for his part pushed his glasses up his nose, rubbed his eyes, then muttered, "Like mother like daughter..."

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**_

_**The problem with having a strong willed daughter that follows after her mother is the fact that you have a strong willed daughter that follows after her mother. Poor Danny.**_


	14. What's Wrong With Being Confident?

**Do you have any idea how horrific it is to have ridiculous work hours AND insomnia?! I swear to the Gods Above and Below the first person to complain to me about our work load is getting shoved into the old freezer we left behind the factory because no one wanted to pay for it being scrapped.**

**I have the unclasped keyless padlock, and I'm not afraid to use it!**

**Oh, right. Written in about an hour fifteen, enjoy!**

**Side note, Tay's armaments? Merchants are going to be a thing next chapter, just thought I'd clarify that.**

* * *

When the alarm on her bed stand went off Taylor's first thought upon reaching consciousness was a very definitive "_WHY!?"_ After that moment of teenage lamentation she rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom while grabbing her change of clothes for the day.

Her first day back to school after Sophia's assault, and hopefully the last day she'd have to suffer the indignity of attending Winslow as her _educational_ facility. Which, honestly, really seemed significantly less daunting now that she'd taken on the self appointed mission to pull the rug out from the E88 for her own personal gain...

Go figure.

While Taylor just went through the motions with most of her morning ablutions she took time with her hair, the near singular bit of her body she took any pride in, then she paused as she glanced at the mirror.

She hadn't needed her glasses since she had Triggered, she had in fact replaced the lenses with plastic she had snatched from a window kiosk months ago just to keep up appearances...but...why bother now? She was going to start a new life at Arcadia next week, and...what would it hurt to not hide behind the massive frames for one day?

What would it hurt to feel pretty, _one_ fucking day in that hell hole.

So she slowed down, and took a bit of 'me' time for herself. Lip and eye liner, eye shadow, lip gloss, hell she even took a bit of time for her brows, brushing a hand through her hair she made a kissy face at the mirror and couldn't help giggling a bit.

She completely counteracted this 'girling up' moment by quickly attaching a collapsible baton holster to her right forearm before placing said baton in place. Pocketing her can of mace in her jacket, her butterfly knife in her pants, and jamming her taser into her jackets inner pocket she paused when her gaze met the gift Lisa had given her before they had left Fugly Bob's the night before.

She burned nearly five solid minutes before she snatched up the Glock 19 and shoved it into the back of her pants and wasted another five making sure her new black leather jacket covered it. Shoving the spare magazine in her back pocket she stared at the stranger in the mirror, and Taylor couldn't help letting out a dark laugh as she shook her head and turned away marching towards the foyer.

Dad was long gone, work started at five after all, Lisa wouldn't be awake yet, and she was done stalling, done letting others dictate her life. Snatching up her backpack she shoved her phone into her singular pocket not containing a weapon and made her way to school.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The first thing Taylor noticed as she entered her school was that nearly everyone paused as she stepped through the front doors, and to be fair she couldn't blame them for their initial reaction.

Before the 'Shadow Stalker Incident' she had only worn neutral coloured, baggy clothing, today she was wearing black skinny jeans, combat boots, a violet blouse, and the black leather jacket with red stripes down the sleeves Lisa had bought her.

Add to the fact she was armed for a full on fucking assault and walked with the confidence of knowing this, she probably cut just a bit of a figure...

At least...she hoped...

Maybe the lack of glasses and the done up hair and makeup helped? Oh fuck was she out of her depth here...

What would Revan do?

Well... she would own this bitch, that's what she would do.

Sneering at a couple of girls who had laughed at her when Madison had dumped juice on her in Earth Studies less then a week ago Taylor sauntered past them while she did her best to project confidence. If this was the last time she saw any of these bitches she wanted them to know how little they mattered to her, and the surge of pure unadulterated spite made the corners of her lips turn up ever so slightly.

She had no idea that it simultaneously made her look both spiteful, _and_ sultry.

The girls winced, one whimpered, they all turned their gazes aside, and Taylor sauntered on ignoring their very existence because, in the grand scheme? Not even worth vengeance, they had not ever, and never would matter to her.

That was...a kind of heady feeling really.

Arriving at homeroom she gave the very shocked Mrs. Knott a jaunty wave that she quickly returned as a quite bemused smile curled up the older woman's lips. The bell rang, the computer assignment was given out, Taylor completed it in five minutes, then she played Oregon Trail, which eventually had her swearing fluently in French when she heard an "Ahem," behind her.

Not even pretending she was bothered she leaned her head back and met her favorite teacher's gaze as the woman raised a singular brow, Taylor just grinned in response for a moment before speaking up.

"Cholera appears to be my misbegotten family's greatest enemy."

Mrs. Knott stared at her stoically for a few seconds before letting out a giggle snort, shaking her head she stepped around to the front of Taylor's work station and leaned forward speaking just loud enough for the ravenette to hear her.

"Be that as it may, Taylor...what...what happened?"

Taylor stared at the only adult aside from her dad that ever stood up for her in her darkest hours for a time before letting out a tired sigh, "I can't say specifically, but lets just say that I'm finally being given a decent turn and got myself a one way ticket to Arcadia. I just wanted...I j-"

Mrs. Knott placed a finger on her lips silencing her as she shook her head slowly looking slightly amused, "You just wanted to let all these little idiots know what they had taken for granted all this time before you were done with all of them for good?"

Taylor was silent for a time, and when Mrs. Knott removed her finger from her lips, she didn't speak, she only nodded, once.

Standing the older woman shook her head sadly as she patted Taylor's shoulder while whispering, "You're a good kid Taylor, and I'm going to miss you, but God Speed, go forward and never look back. I'm proud of you kid, give 'em hell." With that she turned around and walked back to her desk, leaving Taylor with her very confused thoughts.

Lunch should have been a simple affair, especially since her girlfriend had packed her lunch and she shouldn't have had to deal with anyone because who would bother her at this point?

Huh... Principle Blackwell hadn't said a word to her yet either...or the PRT...whatever... Like she actually cared at this point.

Very efficiently using her chop sticks she dipped her California roll into the soy sauce tray, all while filing away the fact that she needed to let Lisa know she was not afraid of real sushi, Taylor popped the rice and seaweed ball into her mouth while letting out a delighted sigh.

So much better then Winslow supplied food.

"Bitch, what the fuck did you do to Sophia!?"

The green tea was amazing too, just enough honey to sweeten it but not enough to drown out the flavor.

"HEY! I'm talking to you here!"

Holy shit were those fresh baked chocolate chip cookies? Taylor had a hard time be-

"HEY I'M TALKING TO YOU BITCH! I- GAH!"

Emma had tried to grab her tray, and Taylor soon found herself standing, holding her by the throat, knife in hand.

Tinkering distractions were one thing, girlfriend gifted snacks were another.

The cafeteria froze, Taylor tilted her head to the side, then released the gagging Emma letting her fall to the ground as she spun the knife closed and pocketed it as she sat back down to her incredibly awesome Lisa supplied lunch. She didn't even bother noting Emma's retreat, though when she went to throw her trash away she did blink in confusion as a group of skinheads smirked at her and nodded in respect.

Huh.

As she was walking away from the cafeteria to hide in the library for the last half hour of lunch an older girl sidled up to her side while smiling brightly, "Taylor! I'm so glad to see you up and about! How are you doing? I mean you were stabbed and all, yet here you are only a couple days later strutting about like you own the place."

Taylor blinked at that, "I'm strutting?"

Penny giggled and nodded, "Oh yes, you are _strutting_, so spill girl, what's going on with you?"

Remaining silent for a time Taylor eventually shrugged before replying with, "Err...I kind of inadvertently got an in with Medhall..."

Penny grinned in return, "Oh...do tell..."

* * *

**_Slightly paraphrasing here, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one (wo)man in (her) time plays many parts."_**

_**Darth Revan was never the most powerful Sith Lord, the most cunning though, well... When plot requirements didn't kick the idiot ball into their court, there was grounds for argument.**_


End file.
